What is the difference between duty to warn and duty to protect?

• A. Duty to warn informs potential victims; duty to protect may involve taking steps to prevent harm to the client or others.
• B. Duty to warn means reporting all client information to authorities.
• C. Duty to protect requires hospitalization in all cases.
• D. They are identical in practice.

Answer: (A)

The difference lies in who is protected and what action is taken when there’s risk of harm. Duty to warn is about informing a potential victim when a client expresses a specific, credible threat against an identifiable person. The clinician’s responsibility is to alert that person so they can take precautions. Duty to protect is broader: when a client poses a risk to others, the clinician may need to take measures to prevent harm, which can include warning the victim, notifying authorities, or pursuing steps like involuntary hospitalization if necessary. In short, warning is about telling a specific person at risk; protecting encompasses a range of safety actions to prevent harm to others (and sometimes to manage the risk in ways that go beyond a simple warning). Some statements that sound like “report everything” or require hospitalization in every case aren’t accurate, and the two duties are not identical in scope.